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The Los Angeles auto show kicked off this morning in downtown L.A. with a bang, with Audi unveiling its beautiful Prologue concept car and Cadillac the long-awaited ATS-V. Though most automakers have major plans for the L.A. auto show, others simply show up to show off what they’ve already got. With big plans for the upcoming Detroit auto show, Infiniti is one of those automakers that simply showed up — but that doesn’t mean nothing worthwhile is coming out of the Infiniti booth. We caught up with Infiniti executive design director Alfonso Albaisa. Here are six things we learned.

1) The production models are coming, starting with the next Q60: Sick of all the Infiniti concepts and the lack of production cars? Albaisa says production vehicles are coming. “On January 13, you’re going to see a concept car that’s very, very, very, very close to the next Q60.”

2) The Infiniti Q60 design was not rejected by Johan de Nysschen: Despite rumors that the Q60 design was rejected by former-Infiniti-now-Cadillac chief Johan de Nysschen multiple times, Albaisa says that’s untrue. “When you have a transparent relationship with the big boss, nothing gets sent back because he’s never too far from the process — that was the benefit of working with him,” he told us. Rather, the Q60 design would go back and forth between de Nysschen and the design team as the car was finalized.

3) The Infiniti Q30 Concept wasn’t actually a Concept: “Q30, as was shown in Frankfurt, was actually the go-with beta model for the production car. All we did was change the front [and it’s the production car].”

4) Nothing has really changed since de Nysschen’s departure: According to Albaisa, nothing much has changed since de Nysschen’s sudden departure for Cadillac. “He left after everything was signed off,” said Albaisa. New head Roland Krüger, who Albaisa proudly points out comes from the design side of the business, has already dived in head-first into his new role.

5) The Infiniti grille is inspired by a suspension bridge’s reflection in water: Ever wonder what exactly was going on with Infiniti’s new corporate grille? According to Albaisa, the top half of the grille mimics the graceful form of a suspension bridge, while the bottom half mimics its reflection in the water.

6) Much of Infiniti design is inspired by Michelangelo: Infiniti’s design team is heavily influenced by the work of Italian renaissance artist Michelangelo. Infiniti designs will increasingly mimic the human form in the coming years, and its designs are done in such a way that it allows the cars to stand out in urban areas like Hong Kong and New York.